Independent Investigative Journalism and Commentary from New Orleans, LA

Friday, August 18, 2006

too many rules.....right

A quote from Nagin at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists:

Nagin suggested that Louisiana and federal officials would prefer the city remain smaller.

He said the city is struggling to deliver services and rebuild with a quarter of its former municipal budget. The federal and state aid the city has received is inadequate and comes with too many rules, he said.

"We are being strangled, and they're using the money to set local policies to try to take control of the city to do things that they had in mind all along, and that's to shrink the footprint, get a bunch of developers in the city, and try to do things in a different way," Nagin said.

"We're not going to let that happen. They're going to give us our money, and we're going to rebuild this city."

Who is "they" Ray? Who is this band of conspirators punking you out of your cash?

They're gonna give you money so you can spend it on a traveling Ray Nagin photographic roadshow? They're gonna give you money so you can siphon it out of the system with bullshit contracts and kickbacks?

You arrogant bastard...get your ass back to this city...cut out the corruption and do something besides bitch. Do anything....anything....just show up man...just show up. That would be a start.

8 comments:

He probably needs more money to funnel to Meffert and his crew. Do you know there are members of Meffert's (ex-Meffert, I guess) staff making well into 6 figures at our expense? Where do you think Nagin fits into this?BTW - who is paying for the C Ray Nagin Roadshow?

Anonymous sounds about right. That's why I keep ranting about city pay roll. Almost eleven months after the layoffs, the city's hasn't even thought about eliminating upper level, six-figure positions, yet it can only afford 14 employees on its street maintenance staff; it had 129 before Katrina. However, the article that gave that number did say something about an upcoming announcement about contracting out street repair work.

G-girl, right on....Recall is the mission. The moment I heard the Oreo hijinks, I was intent on recall. I don't think people understand the gravity of our situation....this is it, this is our last chance to save this city. I'm not going to sit by and let this asshole fiddle while Rome burns...then blame everyone else....RECALL NOW!

I've been reading these posts with some interest and skepticism. I think there are some salient points made, but I'm a bit turned off by the anonymous stuff that seems to always turn to how "Meffert and his crew" are doing this or that with no proof. Love these people or hate them, do they get stuff done? My answer would be yes, which in the cesspool that is our city government is more than can be said for 99.99%. If I'm just naive, so be it, but in my humble opinion, baseless shots from sources that seem to have an agenda take away from the credibility of the whole blog when clearly your hitting some very important points.

1. As for anonymity...I am not a fan of anonymous claims and I have broached this issue in previous posts. However, under the circumstances it is necessary as many of my sources are still involved with city government and would undoubtedly face retribution if they were exposed. Let me say this as well....AZ is a blog, it is not held to the same standards that the Times Picayune or other journalistic resources are held to, that should be understood if you choose to read it. Having said that, I have gone to great lengths (in my spare time) to validate the information on this blog, and I can say with with certainity that I believe everything I have posted is factual information. I have received much, much, much more information which I cannot validate and have not posted. I leave it up to you as a reader to discern the relevance of this information for yourself. Which brings me to the second point.

2. Do they get stuff done? They have. Do they represent the worst of corrruption in what you call the "cesspool" of city government? No, this is by far not the worst of the worst. (I am tackling the worst in a another medium.)

Does it justify what they are doing and what they have done? Absolutely not. And I think the attitude you take is exactly what has led to pathetic excuse for city government that has been allowed to exist and drag us down for decades. Your argument is "So they're grafting money out of the system...that's ok if they're doing a satisfactory job, because no one else in city government is..."? Is that the best we can do? Is that the standard you want set for our city? Which brings me to the next point.

3. I am absolutely publishing this with an Agenda. I want Nagin and his crew out of our city government. I publish it with malice and passion. Nagin has done nothing to me personally or professionally, but I love my city, and I know it's dying, and perhaps it is too late to save it....but I will not sit by silently and watch an inept group of men suck what's left of the lifeblood out of this city which is on life support. I believe the only thing on Ray Nagin's mind for the next 4 years is Ray Nagin and his chronies....and I bet the farm that as soon as the man's term is up, he'll be gone in a heartbeat....hell he's not even here now when we need a leader so desperately.

Anon, thank you for your post and I hope you continue to read AZ and add your opinion. And feel free to post under a name instead of anon, as I agree with you that is does add poignancy to rhetoric.